An ugly win will be just fine, says Joe Schmidt

Schmidt said his players would take a 3-0 win to seal the grand slamANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Joe Schmidt referenced Sir Alex Ferguson yesterday when he said he would accept a lucky win or a boring one in tomorrow’s grand-slam decider at Twickenham, following another day of contrition from Eddie Jones.

Having apologised yet again for the “scummy Irish” remarks he made at a business lunch last year, the England coach said “the matter was dead”. So, on appearances’ sake, is England’s season, and yet despite the fact they have surrendered their championship to Ireland, Jones made it clear that his team are more than motivated by the prospect of denying the visitors a grand slam, which was precisely what Ireland did to his team last season.

“The emotional part of the game is enormous in the Six Nations — probably more than…

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